


Ilse's Notebook

by TheDinosaurNerd



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Desperation, Dreams and Nightmares, Gen, Hope vs. Despair, Ilse lives, Survival, Titans, Wilderness Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-29
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-07-04 08:24:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 21,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15837477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDinosaurNerd/pseuds/TheDinosaurNerd
Summary: With every day that passes, Ilse's hope of returning home dwindles. The lands outside the Walls are treacherous, and each day seems to bring her closer to the verge of death.But with everything she's learned, she can't afford to give in. She can't give up.She refuses to.





	1. End of the Second Battalion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a surprise titan attack, Ilse Langnar is left as the only survivor of her squad. She finds herself left with not choice but to run.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why I've fallen in love with a character who isn't even in the main series, but I have. Ilse deserved better

Ilse Langnar pulled her face out of the flowing water of the river, and immediately regretted doing so. The sounds of her comrades being ripped apart assaulted her ears, and it didn’t take her a second thought to get up and start going the other way. When the titans had attacked, Ilse’s horse panicked and tossed her off into the water, before galloping off into the wild. Ilse climbed up the grassy slope out of the river and towards the trees, and broke out into a sprint. If she could just get far enough away while the titans were still distracted, she might make it. She pulled the trigger on her 3DMG, and-

Nothing happened. The fall must’ve broken the damn thing. _Shit_. Ilse unlatched the gear and let it drop to the ground, but not before securing her remaining blades to her belt. Ilse ran, sprinting away from the village behind her into the wild. There was a field of wheat down the hill to her left. As she ran, Ilse removed her notebook from her pocket and hastily began writing.

_My name is Ilse Langnar. I am part of the 34 th Expedition Beyond the Walls, Second Battalion, in charge of perimeter defense. On our way back, we encountered some titans. I lost everyone in my squad, and even my horse. My Maneuver Gear was damaged, so I had to leave it behind. _

Ilse looked to her left to see the sun slowly setting. She was going the direction she needed to. She was almost sure she was going to die out here (of course she was, she was prepared for that), but if she could make it to the Wall she might just live.

 _I am running due north,_ she added to the notebook. _It’s my only chance for survival._

Fueled by adrenaline and fear, Ilse sprinted across the green fields until the sun had disappeared behind the horizon and her legs were on fire. She slowed to a kind of lopsided trot, stopping by a deep ditch next to a stand of trees. She climbed down into the ditch, pulling some foliage down with her as a kind of camouflage. Hopefully safe in her makeshift shelter, Ilse pulled her cloak up around her, curled up into herself, and began to weep.

* * *

 

Ilse woke with a start. She had dreamed that she was back with the Second Battalion, on the way back to the walls. The titans had come out of nowhere, and one of them had grabbed her horse (with her still on it). It had dropped the horse and kept Ilse, its jaws unhinging as Ilse screamed. It had felt so real when the titan put the lower half of her body in its mouth, and its jaws clamped shut-

Ilse shuddered and pulled herself back to the present. It would do no good to dwell on the past. She looked up out of her ditch- it was dark out, probably early morning. It would probably be a good idea to get on the road- she could avoid titans under cover of darkness.

A flash of lightning split the sky, tearing open a rift through which rain began to fall. Ilse looked up into the breach for a moment, reveling in the feeling of rain on her face. Pulling her hood back over her head, she climbed out of her ditch and went to stand under the tree, shading her from the rain so she could write.

_As I mentioned, I have lost my horse in the lands ruled by the titans. No human can outrun a titan on foot. I have no comrades to rely on. My chances of returning to the city are despairingly low._

Ilse brought a hand up to wipe raindrops off of her face, and was surprised to find warm tears there as well.

_However, if I can avoid contact with the titans, I might be able to reach the Wall. That’s right… right now, I must not give into fear. I have been prepared for this scenario since the day I joined the Survey Corps. I am the Wings of Humanity, making my last stand._

_I am a member of the Survey Corps._

Ilse heard a sound and looked around. It was nothing. She returned her attention to the notebook.

_I will fight to the end, even if I end up dying. I have my blades, and I can fight. I will record my experiences in this notebook, and do whatever I must to survive._

_I will not give up!_

Ilse closed the notebook and placed it back into her pocket. She might’ve been trying simply to convince herself of her chances, but in any case it improved her spirits. She took a moment to survey her supplies- she had three blades, only one with a hilt. It would be enough. Ilse equipped one blade in her hand and started walking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	2. Wandering Soldier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day, Ilse sets out to try and reach the walls.

The blazing sun rose behind Ilse as she ran down an old stone path, her cloak flapping in the air behind her. She had been walking ever since the rain last night and she had started running when the first rays of sunlight appeared over the horizon. She was out in the open, the landscape sparsely decorated by trees; if any titans came, she’d be a sitting duck. She was running for what looked to be a forest ahead. It would provide shade, and more importantly, cover.

A loud sound, frighteningly humanlike, echoed across the plain. Ilse gasped and ducked down, lowering her blade and looking out to her left.

There was a 15m class titan walking slowly in the distance. It had no hair, and one eye was disturbingly larger than the other. Its mouth was stretched out into an uncomfortable-looking grimace. The mouth opened, letting out another vocalization that sounded somewhere between a human scream of anguish and the snapping of a tree.

The titan was too far away to notice Ilse, but she still stayed low to the ground, the hood of her cloak up. She snuck forward and crawled into a nearby bush, concealing her. She pulled out the notebook.

_I have spotted a 15m class titan. It is too far away to see me, I hope. If I can get past it unnoticed, I will be able to reach the nearby forest._

From her vantage point, Ilse watched the titan amble around aimlessly for a while. Its movements had no clear pattern to them- it just walked in random directions. Ilse was hoping it would eventually walk off and disappear, but no such luck. It continued wandering around the same area.

 _Dammit_ , she thought. There was only one way past this. Ilse slowly emerged from her hiding place and started creeping toward the treeline, her eyes focused on the distant titan. She stayed hunched over, hoping her green cloak might help her blend in with the grass. She headed for the next stand of foliage to duck into. The titan continued its movements, still not having seen Ilse.

But then it changed course, turning to walk in Ilse’s direction. Ilse’s heart stopped and she panicked, hastily scrambling forward towards the bushes ahead. She dove into the foliage, dropping her blade before curling up and hugging her knees. After a few moments of silence, she could start to feel the titan’s footsteps through the ground, slowly getting closer. In an instant, the notebook was back in her hands.

_The titan is approaching me. I do not think I have been noticed, however._

The thuds of the titan’s footsteps were now almost deafening, second only to the sound of her heart hammering in her ears. As it got closer, her body started to tense up; the notebook dropped from her hands, and she found herself unable to close her eyes. She clenched her fists and looked up.

The titan stepped over Ilse’s hiding place, its foot landing mere feet from her. She looked up at its underside in horror, praying it wouldn’t be able to hear her heart or her breathing. The titan made another sound as it walked, Ilse automatically clamping her hands over her ears. The titan cleared Ilse’s hiding place and started moving away, its steps going from deafening to loud to tolerable. Ilse tentatively poked her head up out of the bush, and watched the titan’s back recede into the distance. She breathed out a sigh of relief, and wiped the sweat from her forehead. She picked up her notebook, pen, and blade from the bush.

_I avoided detection, thank goodness. The titan has gone away._

Ilse slowly rose to her feet, and glanced around for a moment to verify she was now alone. Feeling relatively secure, she began sprinting towards the treeline.

* * *

 

Ilse passed the first trees and fell to her knees, gasping. Her legs felt like jelly and her lungs were burning, but she was in the shade now. The sun was no longer beating down on her, and it was such a relief. Ilse allowed herself the briefest smile, before rising to her feet again. She still had a ways to go yet, so she started walking into the woods. She walked at a slower pace, feeling reasonably safe from the giant titans.

The woods were alive with the sound of animals. It was easy to forget that things could live out beyond the walls, but here there were birdcalls and frogs and all sorts of living sounds. Ilse had never heard frogs before; she had read about them, and she knew she was hearing them based on what she had been told, but what she had imagined was nothing like the real thing. And the birds! Their songs were so beautiful, Ilse thought to herself. Behind the walls, she only ever saw crows and geese. Out here, there were so many different birds. Ilse wondered just how many there were.

Ahead, Ilse could hear the sound of running water. The sound made her realize just how thirsty she was, and she broke out into a sprint. She scrambled down a rocky incline down to a small waterfall running down the hill to her left. Ilse kneeled down by the clear water and lowered her hands into it, cupping them and bringing a handful of water up to her mouth. She took another few drinks, and then went to wash the dirt and grime off of her face. The water felt so refreshing; she almost wished she could stay here, safe and comfortable.

But she had to go home. For now, she would settle for this short stop. Ilse set down her blade, pulled the boots off of her feet, and stepped into the water. Her feet had been hurting all day; it didn’t help that the Survey Corps boots were so uncomfortable. Ilse curled her toes in the soft sediment at the bottom of the stream; the water was cool, but not too cold. She sat down on a rock by the water’s edge, letting the water flow over her ankles and soothe her nerves. Today had been stressful.

* * *

 

Ilse was still walking through the woods by the time night had fallen. Every once in a while, she could catch glimpses of the moon through the canopy above. She was walking through a glade of flowers, writing in her notebook about the new kinds of flowers she had seen.

Behind her, Ilse heard something- the sound of a branch snapping, perhaps. She immediately went into panic mode, breaking into a run. She sprinted across the glade, crossing the field and hastily scribbling in her notebook. She didn’t see the titan reaching around the tree and peering down at her. Time seemed to slow down; Ilse’s eyes widened in surprise, before settling into an expression of abject terror.

The titan lunged, and Ilse instinctively dodged, stumbling backwards into the tree. As her blade clattered out of her hand, the titan moved up close to her, its eyes boring into her soul. Her eyes started to well up, a single tear running down her face, and out of force of habit she began to write.

_I have encountered another titan. It’s a 7- no, 6m class. It didn’t attack me right away… could it be an abnormal?_

The titan’s faced moved in closer, its breath blowing her hair. Ilse began to whimper.

_This is the end of the line. This is as far as I go. What a pathetic life I’ve led… I never even got help my parents. I feel sick._

_This is the end…_

Ilse lowered her eyes and let her tears flow, fully resigned to her fate. In her heart she felt nothing but regret. But then, the titan opened its mouth and began to croak:

“Ymir’s… people…”

Ilse’s breath hitched. _What?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	3. Ilse and the Talking Titan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse deals with the speaking titan she encountered in the woods.

Ilse scrambled to her feet and started running as the titan clawed at its own face. She snatched up her blade from the ground and sprinted out into the glade, desperately trying to unfasten a second blade from her belt as the titan gave pursuit. She screamed as it caught her in its hands; with her one blade, she tried stabbing at its fingers, to no avail. The titan raised Ilse to its mouth, clamping her head between its teeth. She was hyperventilating, sobbing, the pressure around her skull becoming unbearable, and she did the only thing she could think of.

She swung the blade upwards towards the titan’s face; it pierced the titan’s eye, going straight back into its skull. The titan released its grip on her, just long enough to slip out of its mouth. As the titan howled in pain, Ilse pulled the blade out of its eye and jumped up onto its back. She finally loosened a second blade from her belt, and swung both blades down onto the monster’s neck.

A profuse amount of blood splashed up onto Ilse’s clothes. The titan went limp. It was dead, and she was alive.

Her first kill.

Ilse fell to her knees on the titan’s spine, dropping her blades. She didn’t feel any better. If anything, she felt worse. She had just killed another creature. An intelligent creature. She probably would’ve been fine if it had just been a normal titan, but it wasn’t. It had _talked_ to her. And she had killed it. Ilse looked down at her hands; they were still stained with the titan’s blood, although it had started to evaporate. And they were shaking.

Her head felt like it was going to explode. Its teeth were likely going to leave marks. Her hand hurt, too; she had been holding the second blade without a hilt, and she suspected she had cut herself.

Ilse slipped off of the titan’s back, and went to retrieve her blades. As she secured her extra blade back to her belt, she glanced back at the titan for a moment; its head was facing her, its one eye horribly mangled. The face started to fall apart as the titan started evaporating. Ilse quickly turned away and vomited onto the grass.

Ilse wandered around the glade for a short time. She eventually found a tree with a hollow large enough to sit in; she climbed in, propping her blade up against the inside of the tree and pulling her notebook out.

_I killed the titan that spoke to me. I… I feel sick. I can’t help but feel that some part of that titan was human. It was certainly intelligent. Perhaps… perhaps that’s the reason it began to claw at itself. The part of it that was human was battling the part that desired to devour me._

_Or perhaps I’m thinking about it too much. I’ve taken shelter inside of a hollow tree. It’s cramped, but it will keep me safe._

Ilse secured her notebook. She looked down at her hand again; as she had suspected, it had been cut in the battle. She cut out a strip of fabric from her cloak and wrapped it around the wound. At that, the flurry of thought in her head gave into the darkness of sleep.

* * *

 

Ilse was standing in the grove. The sun sat directly above her head. She had her 3DMG on, but she couldn’t remember why that was so strange. The speaking titan was sitting down in front of her.

“Who are you?” Ilse asked.

The titan did not respond. Ilse was about to ask it another question, but then she felt her face start to crawl. She started scratching at the skin under her eyes, and cried out in pain when she felt warm blood start to run down her cheeks. Ilse fell to her knees, and only barely perceived the titan as it walked up to her and bit down on her head.

* * *

 

Ilse woke up in a cold sweat. She gingerly pressed a hand to her cheek, almost expecting the skin there to be raw and bleeding. She was relieved to find her face intact. Ilse sighed and ran a hand over her face and through her hair. Her head was still aching from the pressure of the titan's jaws. Ilse groaned and looked out of the tree.

The sun was shining outside. Grabbing her blade, Ilse slipped out of the hollow tree and surveyed her surroundings. The grove was much prettier in the day; the dead titan was gone, and the grove was full of many different types of flowers. Ilse knelt down and plucked a purple flower from the ground; she didn’t know what it was called- she had never known much about flowers- but in any case, it was very pretty. Ilse placed the purple flower in her hair. She didn’t know why, perhaps it soothed her nerves. She spent the next few minutes plucking flowers and putting them in her hair, writing in her notebook as she went along:

_The flora beyond the walls is truly something to behold. In this meadow alone, I have happened across a wide variety of wonderful flowers. It is times like these that I am reminded why I joined the Survey Corps: not only to contribute to humanity's survival, but to see the world outside the walls. After the events of last night, I could certainly use the distraction._

After that little diversion, Ilse set out again to the north. She ran deeper into the forest, the trees becoming more dense. That, at least, brought her some comfort; more trees meant big things couldn’t get to her. She ran between the aging trunks, hoping she was going the right way, until she came to a break in the trees.

Ilse crashed out of the foliage into an open space. A few meters ahead of her was a river, and on the other side she could see the roofs of houses behind the trees. To her left, she could see a bridge. She walked down along the river, meeting a path that came from the woods and led to the bridge. She crossed the river and headed in the direction of the buildings. It turned out there was a small village nestled in the forest. There were 5 or 6 quaint little houses organized loosely around the road. It seemed abandoned. Ilse considered calling out for someone, but decided against it. Just to be safe. She pulled out her notebook.

_I have happened across a small village in the woods. It seems to be abandoned, but it will provide me with shelter and comfort nevertheless. I may yet stand a chance._

Ilse walked up to the nearest house and opened the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	4. The Hunt for Food

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse begins exploring the village in hopes of finding a source of food.

The door creaked open slowly. Ilse slipped into the house and took a look around; it was decently sized, and clearly quite old. What little furniture was there was had collected dust for years. There was a small fireplace on the far wall, and a little kitchen area off to the side.

“Hello?” Ilse called out quietly. There was no response. Ilse crept farther into the house, silently closing the door behind her. As she looked around, she wrote distractedly in her notebook:

_The first house I entered is of medium size. It seems clear to me that it has been abandoned for some time- no surprise there. There is a kitchen, a sitting room, and a dining room. I assume there are also bedrooms somewhere in the back. I am going to search for supplies; weapons would be useful, and I am going to need food eventually._

Ilse walked over to the kitchen and started opening cabinets, looking for anything of use. There were plenty of wooden plates, bowls, cups, and the like, but nothing that could aid Ilse’s survival. She found a few knives, but they’d be useless against titans.

Ilse opened the last cupboard in the kitchen to find a stale piece of bread. It looked absolutely disgusting- there might have even been the tiniest bit of mold on one it. Ilse grimaced at it, but the sight of food stirred something in the pit of her stomach that she’d been ignoring for the past few days. Ilse hesitantly reached out and picked up the cold, hard bread. It nearly crumbled in her fingers as she raised it to her mouth and bit into it.

It was fucking disgusting.

Ilse visibly cringed at the rotten taste of the bread as she chewed, and she shuddered when it finally went down. She looked down at the rest of the loaf in her hand, and tried to steel herself for the next bite.

* * *

 

There was nothing else of interest in the house. The moldy bread had done little to alleviate Ilse’s growing hunger. As she left the house, she finished her latest entry in the notebook:

_The first house held little of interest. I found some old bread, and I would be foolish to pass up any food. However, I think I may regret eating that thing for the rest of my life._

She moved on to the next house, a decent-looking place about the same size as the first. She stepped in through the door to find a hunter’s cabin- the walls were decorated by various stuffed animals. There was, as with the last house, a fireplace, and above it there was a wooden bow on display.

Perfect.

Ilse crossed the room and reached up to lift the bow up off of its rack. It was incredibly well-made; Ilse had always had a respect for good craftsmanship, and this bow she could almost consider a work of art. It was certainly a great stroke of luck. All she needed now was to find some arrows, and she would be doing well. She set down the bow and sat down to write.

_Finally, I have found something useful. The second house I entered had a wooden bow. I imagine I will be able to find some arrows as well._

Ilse stood, holding the bow, and moved on to the next room. It was a bedroom, with a small bed in the center of the room and a little desk next to it. She crouched down and looked under the bed, hoping to find something. She didn’t. The third room turned out to be a little workshop; whoever had lived here seemed to be quite the artisan. On the workbench there was an unfinished wooden toy, and in the corner of the room there was a quiver full of arrows. Ilse smiled as she went to retrieve them, throwing the quiver over her back. She pulled out one of the arrows- they looked to be homemade. Very impressive.

* * *

 

Ilse went out to the back of the house, where there was a painted target set up a few yards away. Ilse thought back to the last time she had used a bow; it was back during training, a few years ago. Archery had been one of the earlier parts of their training alongside 3DMG instruction. Ilse had been decent at it, but she was nowhere near the top students. She remembered they would line up in front of targets and take turns shooting. Some of the students would land a bullseye right off the bat, while Ilse was always a little off on the first shot. Of course, over the years, she got better; they all did, that was the point.

Ilse raised the bow and nocked an arrow. She steadied her hands and aimed for the target, one eye closed, as she pulled the bowstring back. She took a deep breath, and let go.

The arrow landed a little off to the side of the target. It was to be expected; Ilse was out of practice. She crossed the yard and retrieved the arrow, then returned to her original spot. She raised the bow again, focusing on her stance and breathing.

The arrow flew across the yard and landed right in the center of the target.

Ilse exhaled and lowered the bow. She went to retrieve the arrow and put it back in the quiver. Now she was in business.

* * *

 

Ilse crept silently through the woods, bow in hand. She had made sure not to stray very far from the village, and she had scouted for any nearby titans beforehand. She was hunting for food- any animal would do, as long as it was large enough to hit reliably. Ilse’s hood was up, and her cloak was pulled around her to help blend in. Animal tracking had been another, albeit smaller, part of her training. The cadets had all been taught how to recognize certain tracks and sounds, and how to follow an animal’s trail. They didn’t actually get to kill anything, of course; nobody could afford to waste a bunch of valuable animals on a bunch of soldiers.

A quiet flutter ahead pulled Ilse out of her thoughts. She looked up to see a pheasant perched on a low tree branch. It was perfect. She nocked an arrow and slowly raised her bow, closing one eye. She focused on the bird, slowing her breathing. She pulled the arrow back. The bird stayed still.

Ilse hesitated for a short moment. Another living thing’s life was in her hands. She was about to end that life. It was nothing like last night, with the titan; this was not out of defense, the pheasant was not going to eat her if she missed. She had no qualms about doing it- she had to survive, and she needed the food. But it gave her pause.

She released the arrow. There was a surprised chirp, then a quiet thud.

Ilse stood and jogged over to the bird, which lay dead on the ground. The arrow had caught the pheasant in the side, just under the wing. Ilse was surprised how little blood there was. She picked up the bird and grabbed the shaft of the arrow, hoping it was still intact. She yanked the arrow out, cringing as blood started running out of the wood. She inspected the arrow- it was still usable. She cleaned off the blood with her cloak and returned the arrow to its quiver. Holding the bird by the neck, Ilse set off in the direction of the village.

* * *

 

With the bird tucked under her shoulder, Ilse had written in her notebook:

_My first hunt was successful. I’ve killed a bird of some kind, not sure what kind exactly. It’s of decent size, and it should keep me fed for some time, especially if I ration it out properly. Most importantly, I managed to retrieve the arrow I used, so I am still fully equipped for further hunts._

Ilse returned to the hunter cabin where she had found the bow, leaving the pheasant in front of the fireplace. With little sunlight left, she went and scoured another two houses. In the first she found some flint, and the second held another few arrows and some dried meat. After this little expedition, Ilse returned to the cabin as night fell.

Soon enough, Ilse had a small fire going. She had removed the pheasant’s feathers and started roasting it over the fire. She felt comfortable with where she was, so she sat down and started to write:

_I have been thinking about the events of last night. I believe that the titan I encountered in the woods represents a great change in our understanding of titans. Could they all have come from similar intelligent origins? Could it even be possible they are more related to us than we expected? I believe this may be the case. Whether this revelation should bring great hope or great fear, I cannot say._

_With all that I have learned, my survival has now become more important than ever. Before, I wanted to live simply for myself. But now, I carry vital information that could contribute to humanity’s victory. For the good of all mankind, I must survive._

_I cannot give up._

_I will not give up!_


	5. Giants Upon the Plains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse sets out from the village, and encounters dangers out in the open.

Ilse looked around. She was back home? But how? And why couldn’t she see clearly? Everything was so blurry. She could vaguely see her parents; they were saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear. It was all muffled. It was like being underwater, she thought.

Ilse looked over to the window. For some reason, she could see outside perfectly clearly. The sun was setting over the city of Trost. She caught glimpse of a tall shape moving in between the houses.

Wait.

Titans?

There were titans in Trost?

Ilse started panicking, trying to get her body to move. She found she was unable to even lift a finger. She tried to say something to her parents, but her mouth wouldn’t open. She looked back out the window to see a titan’s face move into view. Ilse’s heart dropped as the titan ripped the wall off of her house. It reached for her parents, and a tear rolled down her face.

* * *

 

Ilse groaned and sat up. She had fallen asleep on the floor of the cabin last night. She rubbed her eyes and wiped her mouth. The pheasant had served as a good meal last night; she had saved some of it, of course, it would be foolish not to. That, combined with the dried meat she had found, would keep her going for a while.

Ilse stood up and went over her supplies. She had some food, 3 blades, and a bow. With some paper she had found, she wrapped the food and placed it in her pocket. She slung the bow over her shoulder, put the blades under her belt, and went to leave the cabin.

There was a low mist over the village that morning. It was cool out, and there was dew on the grass. Ilse walked out onto the road and headed for the fifth house in the village, one she hadn’t yet explored. It was smaller than the others, only one room, and inside she found an old waterskin. The sixth house contained nothing of interest. Ilse exited the last house and walked out onto the road, heading north. She left the village behind her as the path moved deeper into the woods.

The forest was quiet today. The only sound that reached Ilse’s ears was the sound of dirt crunching under her feet; there were no birds, no bugs, no other sounds. Ilse kept vigilant, watching the sides of the road and listening for any wayward sound. She wouldn’t be caught off guard again- she still had a slight headache from her last titan encounter. She had one blade out, and she was ready to grab her bow at a moment’s notice.

Ilse stopped walking when she came to a puddle in the road. She looked down and saw her reflection staring back up at her. There were still flowers in her hair; she had almost forgotten she had placed them there last morning. It brought a slight smile to her face. Ilse plucked another flower from the side of the road, placed it in her hair, and kept walking.

* * *

 

Ahead, Ilse could see a break in the woods. She slowed her pace and walked to the edge of the treeline. Beyond, there was a bright open field, with stands of trees scattered about randomly. In the distance, Ilse could see a small cottage near the road.

And three titans.

There were two 7m class titans and one 10m class. They were milling about between the treeline and the cottage. Ilse crouched down behind a tree and pulled out her notebook.

_I’ve been walking for a while, and I can see a small cottage in the distance. However, there are three titans in my way. I don’t know how I am to evade them, but I have to try. I will not give up._

Ilse emerged from the woods and started moving across the field. She kept an eye on the closest titan, which hadn’t noticed her yet. Ilse came to a stand of trees and crouched down in the bushes. The titans continued moving about aimlessly. When none of them were looking in her direction, she ran out and dashed to the next stand of trees, just as she had two days earlier.

When she ran out from her hiding place, one of the 7m titans noticed her. It roared and started sprinting towards her. Ilse gasped in terror and started running as well, jumping up and climbing up a tall tree. She climbed up to the top branches, just out of reach of the titan. The monster pressed itself right up to the tree trunk, desperately scrambling and reaching up to try and grab her. The other 7m had started walking over, attracted by the sounds of the first titan’s screaming. As it drew near, Ilse leapt from the tree and landed on the titan’s head, jumping down behind it before it could comprehend what had happened. The flowers tumbled out of her hair.

Ilse started running down the road towards the cottage. She was much closer now, and only the 15m titan was in the way. It noticed her running towards it, and reached down towards her. Ilse ducked and went between the titan’s legs. It ducked down to get at her, before slowly rising to turn around. Ilse kept running, sweat running down her forehead, until she had almost reached the cottage.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and Ilse went flying through the air. The 15m titan had swung its hand down and nearly crushed her. Ilse landed by the door of the cottage, and she quickly stumbled to her feet as the titan approached. She threw the door open and leaped in, kicking the door closed behind her just as the titan’s hand reached her.

* * *

 

Ilse collapsed on the floor, gasping. She turned over and coughed, before falling back onto her knees, chest heaving. She sat there for a minute, trying to catch her breath.

Loud footsteps outside reminded her that she wasn’t quite safe yet. The titan was no doubt circling the house, trying to find her.

Ilse looked around. The cottage was small, and mostly empty. There were some shelves against the wall, but there was nothing on them. The floor was covered in dust, and-

-and there was a hatch in the corner.

Ilse crawled over and grabbed the latch, pulling the wooden hatch upwards to reveal a ladder going downwards. The cottage shuddered around her; the titan outside was clearly trying to get to her. The house shook again, and the loud sound of snapping wood filled Ilse’s ears. She lowered herself into the opening and climbed down the ladder as the roof of the cottage was ripped off, closing the hatch above her.

* * *

 

Ilse slowly stepped down the ladder into a dark cellar of some sort. Her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, but she could only barely make out her surroundings. There was a desk of some sort to her left, and what might be a lamp or lantern on top of it. Ilse slowly moved over to the desk, and put out her hands to feel the object. Indeed, it seemed to be a lamp. Ilse procured one of the matches she had found and lit the lamp, lighting the whole room. The cellar was not particularly large, and the ground was hard and cold. The walls were lined with shelves, and Ilse realized they were all stocked with supplies. It was a storeroom.

Ilse quickly jumped up and started searching the shelves, hoping for something useful. There was plenty of food, but it was all years old and rotten. She found a jar full of dried fruits- they still seemed edible, so she took them. There was also an old rucksack lying on the ground; Ilse took it too, glad to have somewhere to store any supplies she might find. That was the extent of what she found in the storeroom.

The room suddenly rumbled, nearly throwing Ilse off-balance. It had come from above- no doubt it was the titan. Seeing no other choice, Ilse decided to try and wait it out. She sat down in the corner of the room, her notebook finding its way into her hands.

_I reached the cottage and have taken shelter in an underground cellar. The titan that I escaped still seems to be above me, so I have no choice but to wait here until it leaves. Fortunately, I have found some supplies- a rucksack and some food. It will help._

_I have no idea where I am in relation to the Walls. I have been traveling for a few days now, and have seen no sign that I’m getting close to my destination. These lands are dangerous, and I fear that the longer I am out here, the worse my chances will become. I suppose only time will tell._

The cellar rattled again from above. Ilse wondered briefly what exactly that titan was doing up there.

_I will not let my hopes fall, however. The only thing that will guarantee my death is a loss of hope. As long as I am determined to survive, there will be a chance, no matter how slight, of success._

Ilse pocketed her notebook and sighed. Judging by the sounds above her, she would be trapped here for a while. Like a rat. The thought brought her no comfort, to be sure.

* * *

 

Ilse felt like she had been waiting for hours. The air in the cellar was becoming muggy and uncomfortable. Every breath she took felt stale. Ilse coughed slightly, and listened as the sound echoed slightly in the small space.

Then she realized. It was quiet. Perhaps the titan was gone?

In any case, she couldn’t stay down here forever. Ilse grabbed onto the ladder and climbed upwards. She placed her palm on the underside of the wooden hatch and pushed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	6. Fish Scales

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Ilse continues her travels, she encounters some rare animals and receives a stroke of luck.

The hatch didn’t open. Ilse tried again, putting more force into her arm. The hatch slowly lifted, giving significant resistance. At a point, it got stuck again, refusing to be opened any further. Ilse groaned in annoyance and crawled out of the narrow opening, the hatch slamming shut as she pulled her legs up and out.

There was nothing left of the cottage. It was completely in ruins thanks to the titan’s attacks- there was nothing left but a pile of debris. A wooden beam had fallen on top of the hatch, blocking it.

Fortunately, said titan was nowhere in sight. Ilse took a moment to survey her surroundings; the path that had led her to the cottage continued towards the north, which was the way she was heading. To the east, she could see what might be a river. The Walls were still nowhere in sight. With her new rucksack hung over her shoulder by her bow, Ilse started running down the road.

* * *

 

Ilse jogged down the path, sweating. The sun was beginning to fall, marking the start of the afternoon. Ilse skidded to a stop and sat down on the stone fence that lined the road. She wiped the sweat off her brow and opened up her rucksack. In it, she had stored what little food she had- cooked pheasant from the other day, plus some dried fruit and meat. Ilse finished off the cooked meat; she hadn’t eaten since yesterday, and the pheasant was likely not going to last much longer, unlike the dried foods. She resolved to ration out the rest of her food more properly, perhaps go a day or two before getting into the dried meat.

Ilse had another, more pressing problem: water. She hadn’t had anything to drink since the stream two days ago, and she was severely dehydrated by now. Ilse turned around and looked down the hill from the road- there was a river not too far away, lined by trees. She slipped off of the stone fence and started walking down the hill towards the treeline.

The river was much bigger than the others she had encountered. The water rushed past her loudly, occasionally splashing up against the rocks. Ilse pulled out her newly-acquired waterskin and dipped it into the river, letting it fill up. She took a long swig, drinking nearly half of the water she had collected, before placing the waterskin back into the current to refill it.

Ilse was about to turn and leave when she heard a splash upstream. She looked, and saw nothing there. Confused, she kept her eyes on the flowing water until something happened. A trout leaped up out of the stream, its scales glinting in the sunlight, and fell back into the water. Another jumped up after it, and another. There was a whole school of fish leaping its way down the river.

Ilse hadn’t seen a fish in years. Not since the fall of Wall Maria, in any case; there weren’t any rivers around Trost, so most fish had been imported from the territory that was lost in the attack on Shiganshina. And Ilse certainly had never seen a _live_ fish before. They looked so lively, even almost alien to her as they jumped around the river.

* * *

 

Ilse remained by the river for a while before heading back up to the path. She walked up the hill out of the trees, and jumped over the stone fence to start heading back north. To the west, she could see in the distance a few titans walking about. They were too far away to be of any threat to her, so she paid them no mind. The sun was starting to get low, so Ilse would have to start worrying about finding a place to sleep. Or maybe she would keep traveling all night again- it was always an option.

Ilse suddenly realized she hadn’t written in her notebook since the morning. She pulled the trusty journal out of her pocket.

_I eventually was able to leave the cellar that the titan had trapped me in. I have been walking north since then with little incident; I was able to collect a fair amount of water at a nearby river. No titans have come near enough to be dangerous yet._

_I wonder what happened to my horse._

* * *

 

The smell of smoke caught Ilse’s attention immediately. She looked up, and saw a dark plume billowing into the air not too far away. Ilse broke into a reasonable sprint, drawing closer to the source of the smoke. As she approached, the smell of burning flesh reached her, and she had to resist the urge to gag.

Ahead, the sight of a town caught Ilse’s eye. It was large, much larger than the last village she had stayed in. It was in ruins; she could hear nothing but the telltale crackle of fire, explaining the smoke. There was blood everywhere.

Ilse warily walked into town, unnverved. Giant footprints in the ground signified that there had been titans here. Perhaps there was a battle between titans and the Survey Corps? If that was the case, she might have some hope of reaching the Walls.

“Hello?” she yelled out hoarsely. Immediately, her throat started to itch; she had not used her voice in days for anything except to scream. There was no response.

As Ilse wandered further into the town, she wrote in her notebook:

_I have found myself in another village. It seems this place was recently the site of some battle between man and titan. My suspicion is that the titans won. If I find any survivors, however, my journey may finally be over._

As Ilse wrote, she tripped over something. She looked down and gasped. It was a corpse, missing one leg. The stench was overwhelming, and the sound of flies was deafening. Ilse pinched her nose and turned around to vomit onto the street. Very little came up, thanks to her limited food supply.

Ilse surveyed the body once again. The corpse was wearing a standard Survey Corps uniform, and their 3DMG seemed to be intact. Ilse knelt down and started pulling the gear off of the corpse, praying it would work. She hauled the clunky device off, and started checking it for defects. The gas mechanism seemed fine, the triggers worked, the cables were intact. There were four blades in the holsters. It was perfect. Ilse whispered a brief thanks to the dead body before starting the process of putting the gear on.

Ilse pulled the trigger and heard the whizz of the cable. With one small burst of the gas, she was flying through the air, whipping around a building. She reeled in the cable and fired the other, landing on the roof of a house. She let out a breath of elation at the exhilaration of soaring through the air, ready to defend humanity. She had missed that feeling of power, of invincibility that came along with the 3DMG. As she looked into the setting sun, Ilse finally felt ready to face the coming days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	7. Roadside Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As she continues her journey northward, Ilse is thrust suddenly into a violent battle on the road.

Ilse dreamt that she was back in training, years ago. She was in the forest with her 3DMG. Ahead of her, she could see the wooden cutout that represented a titan. She knew what to do; she had done this drill hundreds of times. She propelled herself into the air with gas, anchoring a cable to a tree. She swung around the titan and fired a cable straight into its nape, ready for the killing blow.

But then, the wooden cutout turned towards her. A wooden arm swung up clumsily and grabbed Ilse in midair. Flesh began to grow around the wood, forming a live titan with giant teeth. It opened its mouth and moved to devour the struggling Ilse head-first.

* * *

 

When she woke up, Ilse instinctually grabbed for her blade. It took her a moment to realize she wasn’t currently in danger, and she slowly slid her blade back into the holster.

Ilse had slept the night in one of the few houses in the town that hadn’t been destroyed by the titan battle. Before she went to sleep, she had searched some of the houses for supplies; she had found some extra arrows, plus some dried meat and berries. She was slowly building a supply of food that, if rationed properly, would keep her alive for a time. She only hoped she wouldn’t need it for that long.

Ilse stood and walked over to the window. It was very early, and the sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. It looked so peaceful; Ilse could imagine living out here, if the titans were ever vanquished.

That’s why she was here, she thought. To contribute to the realization of that day when humanity no longer had to live under the rule of titans. Perhaps, with the information sitting in her notebook, Ilse could help that day come much, much sooner.

Ilse left the house and climbed up onto the roof. The air was cool, and smelled vaguely of petrichor. Perhaps it had rained last night. Indeed, there was water up on the roof. Ilse settled down on the shingles, her equipment clanking loudly as she sat. She looked around at the town- although still in ruins, smoke no longer rose from the charred remains of the buildings. Beyond, the sun continued to rise.

Ilse looked northward. She wished she could see the thin shape of the Wall, a beacon of hope. Instead, all she saw were trees.

She remained on the roof for a good ten minutes or so, before jumping down to the ground. She had to get on the road before too long. Ilse quickly ran over her supplies, as always, before walking down the road to the north. She made a point not to look at the bisected corpse lying near the town border.

* * *

 

Ilse sprinted down the road. Although the path itself was not heavily forested, there were trees all around to her right and left. Her legs felt like they were about to give in, so she slowed to a calm stroll. Around her, birds were singing and crickets were chirping. It was pleasant, in a strange way. Ilse stopped walking completely, taking a moment to rest. She hunched over and placed her hands on her knees. She ran a hand through her short hair. It was so quiet and peaceful, Ilse wondered if maybe the titans had all vanished overnight. The thought was silly, but it would be a relief, to be sure.

Wait.

It was quiet. Almost silent, even.

Where were the birds?

A loud thud cut off her thoughts. Before Ilse could react, a giant foot slammed down in the middle of the path. She looked up in horror, eyes following the body upwards to the titan’s ugly face, which was contorted into a face of anguish.

And then the titan’s hand was reaching down for her.

Ilse dove out of the way as the titan’s palm crashed down onto the dirt road. She whipped out her two blades and ran under the titan to its other side. The beast slowly craned its deformed head to follow her movements, watching in eerie silence as she turned and fired a cable into its back. With a burst of gas, Ilse was in the air. The titan reached for her again with its other hand; Ilse swiftly swung her blades outward, slicing off two of its fingers and allowing her to pass by its hand. She fired off the other cable, using controlled bursts of gas to float up directly above the titan’s nape. She raised her blades.

Suddenly, the titan brought its elbow down onto her cable, jerking her downwards. Ilse crashed and slid down the dirt road. She quickly got her bearings as the titan lunged again. The monster had foregone the use of its arms and instead elected to dive mouth-first at the human. Ilse dodged as the titan dove at her and slid across the ground, eating a mouthful of dirt in the process. This was her chance; Ilse launched an anchor at a tree to give her some height, then spun around mid-air to face the titan. She was behind it now, and she fired both cables directly into the creature’s nape. With a scream, she propelled herself forward, blades raised, and-

* * *

 

Time seemed to slow in the moment that Ilse sliced the titan’s neck. She watched in extreme detail as the fine blades cut through the thick, sinewy flesh, blood starting to spurt out. But then time sped up again, and before Ilse knew what had happened she was soaring upwards as the titan fell down below her. Then she landed a meter or so in front of the dead titan’s head. The blood that had splashed onto her cloak started to hiss and steam.

Ilse turned and looked wide-eyed at the gargantuan corpse. And she started to laugh.

She had done it. She had killed the titan, and unlike with the speaking titan she had encountered, she didn’t feel sick and guilty about it. In fact, she felt great, _elated_ even, adrenaline coursing through her veins. This was no intelligent creature, it was a monster, plain and simple. And she had killed it.

Ilse briefly wondered how many this titan had killed. How many soldiers had fallen victim to its grotesque teeth. She had avenged them, she hoped.

In her notebook, she wrote:

_I have done it. With my newly acquired gear, I have managed to kill a titan. It was a 10m class, and very horrid to look at. The creature appeared from nowhere and surprised me, but I managed to gain the upper hand. My heart is still racing._

_A part of me wonders if I should be so excited about my victory, considering what I have learned about titans. They may have once been intelligent; some of them may still be so now. Is it right to kill a being that was once sentient?_

_In any case, the majority of titans, as they are now, are too great a threat to humanity to be allowed to live. If I am to survive and deliver this intel to the Survey Corps, I must shed any and all qualms about killing them._

_I wonder if my parents would be proud of me._

* * *

 

Ilse resumed her journey northwards. By now, the sun was directly above her, situated in the center of the sky. It was midday. The path was quiet still; the continued silence unnerved Ilse slightly, but she had climbed trees several times in the last hour to scout for titans and had found nothing. She had run for a while after her battle with the titan, but now she had settled into a brisk walk. She didn’t let her guard down, but she was content to slow down for a while.

But then, something reached her ears. In the distance, off to her right, Ilse could hear the sounds of screaming.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	8. Dwindling Numbers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse runs straight into a harrowing battle between Survey Corps troops and titans.

Ilse sprinted through the forest towards the sounds. The screaming got louder and louder, until Ilse reached the end of the trees. She skidded to a stop as she saw what was unfolding before her.

There was another little town there, next to the river she had seen earlier, and it had become the battleground for a clash between a Survey Corps squadron and a group of titans. Ilse watched helplessly as a titan wrapped its fingers around a soldier who lay unconscious on a nearby roof. Ilse ran forward, propelling herself into the air towards the titan, but it was too late. The poor soldier was between the titan’s teeth before Ilse could get close enough. He regained consciousness just in time to start screaming.

On the bright side, the titan was distracted.

As she flew by, Ilse raised her blades and swung at the titan’s neck. The titan went down as Ilse landed uneasily on the street. The town was in chaos; soldiers were flying around at breakneck speeds above her, and their horses were running around in panic between the titans’ legs. Ilse fired off a cable and flew up onto a roof to get a better view. There were several titans, all over 10m. There were only 8 soldiers left fighting, Ilse included.

On the other side of the village, one soldier prepared to make the killing blow when the titan’s head spun around suddenly. There was no time for the soldier to scream as she flew straight into the titan’s mouth. 7 soldiers.

Ilse took off and propelled herself towards the nearest titan. It was distracted by another soldier flying in circles around its head, trying to get a good shot at the neck. When its back was turned, Ilse swung in and sliced open the nape. She landed on a roof as the other soldier landed across from her on another. He waved at her and was about to say something when a titan’s hand slammed down out of nowhere, pulverizing the unlucky bastard into a red splatter on the roof. 6 soldiers. Ilse gasped in horror, before quickly switching over to rage. She flew right at the titan’s face, raising her blades and driving them into the titan’s eye. She jumped up over the titan’s head and shoved the blades into the back of its skull, pulling them downwards through the titan’s neck. She jumped away and landed on the street as the titan collapsed.

Another scream echoed out from between the houses. Ilse looked to see a titan lifting a struggling solider in its hands, slowly opening its mouth. Another soldier took notice and yelled in anger, taking off towards the titan with a burst of gas. The soldier cut into the titan’s arms, forcing it to drop the first soldier. But the titan suddenly lunged forwards with its head, grabbing the second soldier and biting him in half. 5 soldiers.

The first soldier launched herself into the air, swinging around to try and avenge her savior. She flew up behind the titan, ready to make the final strike, when the monster swung its arm around, slamming her into the side of a building and crushing her. 4 soldiers.

Ilse turned and ran down the street, rounding a corner to watch another soldier slice a titan in the neck. He landed on the nearest roof, and yelled out an order:

“Retreat! All hands, retreat!”

He was about to leave the roof when a titan’s head appeared behind him; jaws opened wide, the titan lunged, catching the soldier in its mouth and crashing down through the roof of the house. Ilse grimaced. 3 soldiers.

Ilse took off and landed on a roof to try and locate the others. Down on the ground, she could see the two other soldiers trying to find their horses to escape. One of them located a steed, jumping onto its back and starting to ride off. The soldier didn’t notice the nearby titan until it was too late; the titan, walking on all fours, lunged forth and yanked the soldier right off of his horse, throwing him up into the air and swallowing him whole. 2 soldiers.

Ilse jumped down onto the street and ran towards the other remaining soldier. “Run!” she yelled, passing the other and sprinting down the street. She heard her companion yell in affirmation. And then Ilse heard her scream. She didn’t even turn back to see what had happened to her.

1 soldier.

Ilse turned down the street and saw a horse panicking down at the other end. She whistled for the animal, which came galloping towards her. She quickly grabbed the saddle and pulled herself upwards, throwing her leg over the horse’s back and grabbing the reins. The horse started galloping down the street, and went down the road leading north. The road led out of the town, coming up next to the river.

One of the titans saw Ilse’s escape and roared. It started running after her. Ilse heard the rapid thudding behind her, and risked a glance behind her. The sight of the titan giving chase made her heart drop. “Shit!” she screamed, as she scrambled to grab her bow. She nocked an arrow as the titan gained, raising the bow and aiming for the titan’s eye. She let loose, the arrow sinking itself into the titan’s cheek. Ilse cursed and nocked another arrow, aiming again for the eye. The arrow flew, this time making its mark. The arrow buried itself completely in the titan’s eye, but it did not even react.

Ilse looked back forward. The horse was now running dangerously close to the edge of the rushing river over to the right. Ilse tried to pull the reins over to the left, but then the chasing titan’s hand slammed down into the road next to them. The horse flew up into the air, and Ilse screamed as both she and the horse tumbled into the crashing waters of the river.


	9. The Castle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse wakes up by the side of a lake, very nearly alone and very disoriented.

Ilse was brought back to consciousness by something soft nudging her side. She wearily opened her eyes to see the horse she had been riding poking her side with its snout, snorting softly. She tried to sit up, groaning as a sharp pain shot up her back. The horse whinnied quietly. Ilse patted the top of its head and muttered something comforting.

Ilse looked around. They were washed up by the side of a lake, surrounded by trees on one side and water on the other. It was night, and the moon was still rising. Around her, there were sound of cicadas and frogs.

Ilse slowly tried to stand up. The pain in her back made the process much harder than it had any right to be. The horse lowered its head for her to hold on to and steady herself. “Thanks,” Ilse whispered.

Ilse took a moment to go over her supplies. She still had her rucksack, bow, 3DMG. She opened the rucksack to check on its contents- fortunately, the dried food hadn’t gotten too wet in the river. Ilse checked her notebook next; the pages were a bit drenched, but they’d survive. At the very least, the most important information was intact.

Ilse looked to the north. Thus far, her plan had been simply to head north, and eventually she’d reach the Wall. But now, she had no idea where she was. It was night now, which meant that she’d been in the water for hours. And she highly doubted that the river ran straight north-south. If it had taken her east or west, then heading north would take her right past the Walls. That was a risk she couldn’t afford to take.

But then, she needed to figure out what to do next. Away from the edge of the water seemed like a good place to start, so she grabbed the horse’s reins and started walking towards the woods.

* * *

 

Hearing the horse’s breathing soothed Ilse, strange as that may be. It comforted her to be near another living creature for once, not in any imminent danger. The gentle bursts of air reminded Ilse that she was not entirely alone in a world of monsters.

Moonlight echoed in through the trees above to light their path. Ilse and the horse had been walking through the forest for a little while now, and there was no sign of anything interesting yet. There was an owl hooting somewhere. Ilse looked over in the direction of the sound, then returned her attention forwards. Ahead, she could see what might be the end of the treeline, so they kept walking.

In another minute or so, they reached the edge of the trees. There was a large clearing there, surrounded on all sides by forest. And in the middle of the clearing sat a withering stone castle. It was fairly large- three stories, by the looks of it. The main building was surrounded on three sides by a wall, which connected to the castle around the back. It was about 7m high. The battlements at the top of the wall seemed to be lined with cannons. There was a large doorway in the middle; Ilse suspected there had been a large door or gate there once, but it was long gone.

Ilse and the horse passed under the stone archway into the main courtyard. It was not especially large- a little field of grass with a stone path that led to the castle door. Ilse let go of the horse’s reins and patted its head. “I’m going to go inside; you stay here,” she said. The horse whinnied quietly. At that, Ilse crossed the courtyard and slowly pushed open the great wooden door.

Ilse was greeted by a large dining hall. Two long tables ran down the length of the room, with a fallen chandelier lying in the center. At the far end of the room there was a large fire pit fixed in the ground. It had clearly been a fairly nice place, once; the kind of place a soldier could only ever dream of living in.

To Ilse, being here now felt more like a nightmare than anything.

* * *

 

The inside of the castle was decently sized. So far, she had seen several bedrooms and a library. Now on the third floor, she pushed open a pair of heavy wooden doors and entered another room.

It looked to be a study of some sort. There was a large, ornate desk on the other side of the room, with a gigantic window behind it. There was a large, red carpet on the floor leading down the length of the room. On the left wall, there was a large parchment attached to the wall, with a large map of the area drawn on it. Ilse allowed her hopes to rise for a moment, before they fell again. The map wasn’t at the right scale to be able to see the Wall. She still had no idea where she was.

Damn.

Ilse stepped forward and took a closer look at the map. There were four small villages labeled on it near the castle: Jeju, Shinzara, Chugako, and Namado. Ilse decided to pay each town a visit, and see if she could find any clues there.

She would start tomorrow. She would find a way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	10. Jeju

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse sets out for the village of Jeju.

Ilse woke up in the library, slumped over in a chair with a book in her lap. She had stayed up all night reading; it was the first enjoyable thing she had done since she became stranded. Had long had it been? A week?

Ilse gently closed her book and placed it on the desk. She pulled out her notebook and wrote:

_Yesterday was… distressing, to say the least. I encountered a group of abandoned Survey Corps soldiers, fighting against a group of titans. They were all killed, and I barely escaped on horseback. One of the titans pursued me, and I ended up falling into the river. I washed up that night on the shore of a lake._

_I know not where the current carried me. I could be anywhere, and I have no idea where I must go to find the Walls. I am lost._

_On the bright side, I traveled for some time last night and I found an abandoned castle in the woods. It is quite the accommodating place, and could serve nicely as a base of operations, or something to that effect. At the very least, it shall provide shelter until I can get my bearings. Furthermore, I now have a horse again._

_I am not sure if I should be very hopeful or very hopeless._

 Putting away the notebook, Ilse picked up her book again and stood to place it back on the bookcase. She stretched her back and yawned, before grabbing her rucksack from the desk where she’d left it and heading upstairs. She walked up the staircase to the third floor and entered the study. Through the window, she could see the sunlit forest outside. Ilse looked over at the map, retrieving her notebook once again to quickly copy down the locations of the villages. She then went back down the stairs to the first floor, entering the large dining hall. Ilse set down her rucksack on one of the long tables and opened it to survey her supplies. She still had her dried fruit and meat, and she was hungry.

After digging into some of her rations, Ilse pushed through the big doors of the castle into the main courtyard. Ilse saw with relief that the horse was still there, eating the grass that surrounded the castle. The horse raised its head when it saw her, and whinnied happily. Ilse walked over and ruffled its mane. Looking up, she saw the sun was high above, nearing its zenith. It was already midday- she must have slept in. Ilse didn’t really care much; she had slept better last night than usual.

With a grunt, she pulled herself up onto the horse’s saddle and grabbed the reins. Pulling out her notebook, she checked the map she had sketched, and lightly whipped the reins. “Let’s go,” she whispered to the horse, who started trotting out the gate.

* * *

 

The village of Jeju seemed to be the closest to the castle, so Ilse elected to visit it first. The horse was moving at a decent pace, not quite walking but definitely not at a gallop. They had been heading southwest, towards Jeju, for perhaps half an hour. They were now somewhere in the woods, following what might have once been a path. The sun was no longer as high in the sky, signifying the start of the afternoon. Ahead, Ilse could see a break in the trees.

The horse trotted out into the open. The village of Jeju was sitting ahead in the clearing. It looked very old, more so than the other villages she had seen; many of the buildings were overrun with vines, and some of them had collapsed completely into the mud. Ilse’s hopes faltered slightly; there was likely to be nothing of use that had survived the crushing grip of time.

Ilse and the horse slowly moved towards the crumbling town. It looked so very ancient; how long had it been here? 100 years? Could it have been here before the titans appeared?

Ilse imagined that. Frontiersmen out here building a settlement for themselves, free of the oppression brought by the titans. She could almost see them, hunting and growing crops out in the woods, making a life for themselves.

And then the titans appeared. The people were driven into hiding (or were killed). The land was lost. And this village fell into the forgotten mists of the past.

Ilse pulled the reins back, and the horse stopped in front of the first house. Ilse slipped down off of the horse’s back and walked up towards the front door. She tried the handle, but it didn’t budge. Ilse took a step back, and then kicked the door in.

* * *

 

The sun was getting low. As she had feared, the village contained little of interest. She found a few spare arrows in one of the more intact buildings, but nothing more. As Ilse pulled herself up onto the horse and prepared to leave, something caught her eye from behind one of the houses. She rode back around it to find a tall apple tree sitting in the backyard.

Ilse practically leaped off of the horse and sprinted across the yard towards the tree. She looked up to see a number of ripe apples dangling from the branches. Ilse scrambled up the bark and snatched the first apple that was within reach, before falling back down onto her back. She hastily lifted the apple and took a bite.

It was the most delicious _fucking_ thing she had ever tasted.

Ilse sat up as a drop of juice ran down her chin. She took another bite of the heavenly fruit and sighed happily. Pushing herself up onto her feet, Ilse climbed back up the tree and grabbed another apple. She jumped back down and held the apple out for the horse. The horse whinnied happily and took a bite.

* * *

 

After a few minutes spent picking apples, Ilse heard a loud groan echo from the distance, accompanied by quiet thuds. She hastily slipped down the tree and climbed up onto the horse’s saddle. “Time for us to go,” she muttered, patting the horse’s head and whipping the reins. The horse turned and started galloping towards the woods.

As the horse sped towards the castle, Ilse wrote in the notebook:

_Apples are perhaps the most amazing, heavenly thing I have ever tasted. I know not how I ever could have lived without them. They are so sweet! Truly, the world outside the walls is full of wonders._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	11. Arrowhead, Shaft, and Feather

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse realizes that her sparse diet won't keep her going for much longer, and she goes out on a hunt.

The horse trotted back through the gate into the courtyard of the castle. Ilse pulled the reins back and slid off the horse’s back. She patted its head and whispered, “See you tomorrow.”

Ilse trudged across the courtyard and pushed her way into the main hall of the castle. The door slammed shut behind her as Ilse headed for the staircase. She went up to the second floor and, instead of heading to the library again, opened the door to one of the bedrooms. She hadn’t yet slept in any of the beds in the castle; last night she had slept in the library. Ilse dropped her bag, her gear, and her bow and collapsed onto the bed.

Good lord, it was comfortable.

Ilse curled up into the dusty bed and drifted off.

* * *

 

It was raining. Ilse was hunting in the woods for… something. She wasn’t quite sure what anymore. She slowly crept forwards, bow in hand. She slowly removed one arrow from its quiver and nocked it. Ilse looked around the forest, searching.

There was a quiet rustle ahead. Ilse’s head snapped around to see… herself.

She was standing there, another version of herself, a few yards away, looking around at the woods. She was completely oblivious that she was being hunted. The first Ilse raised her bow and aimed it at herself (?) Why was she doing this? She wasn’t quite sure. Before she could figure out what was going on, her hand slipped and the arrow went off-

* * *

 

The moment she woke up, Ilse felt the pain of hunger in her stomach. It seemed that, at last, the consequences of her sparse rations had caught up with her. She groggily pulled herself up out of the soft bed.

Ilse scratched the spot on the back of her head where the arrow had hit her in the dream.

She collected her things before leaving the bedroom and going down the stairs to the main dining hall. She sat down in front of the fire pit and placed her chin in her hands, thinking.

She couldn’t go on much longer like this, that much was obvious. Ilse was going to need to start eating more than once every few days, or else she was going to lose her strength. If she were to run into a titan at anything less than her best, she would surely end up dead.

Ilse sighed.

The bow slung over her shoulder suddenly seemed to gain a certain weight. Ilse reached behind her and lifted the bow. She hadn’t used it since the titan had chased her on horseback. She still had a fair number of arrows left.

Ilse made her decision. It was time to hunt.

* * *

 

Ilse walked by the side of the lake, and took the last bite out of the apple she had brought. She tossed the core aside and grabbed her bow. It was one of only three things she had brought on this trip, the others being one of her blades and a bag to carry whatever she harvested.

Ilse took a moment to look around. To her right, the water of the lake was calm. Above her, the sky was overcast; she didn’t think it was going to rain, and it was nice to have a break from bright, sunny days. To Ilse’s right was the great expanse of forest; she turned and stepped into the foliage quietly. She stalked through the woods for a few minutes before she finally found something of interest.

There were tracks of some kind pressed into the mud. It took a moment for her to recall the memory from the dusty classroom of her hunting class in training, but Ilse was eventually able to identify it. It was a deer. Judging by the quality of the prints, and the state of the foliage around them, Ilse deduced that the prints were fairly recent. She looked up and started following them.

There were more signs as she went on. A slightly nibbled leaf. A pile of deer droppings (still fresh, ew). Eventually, Ilse came to the edge of the clearing and stopped.

There was the deer, standing peacefully in an open field. It bent down and took a bite from the grass below. It looked so peaceful. Ilse nocked an arrow and lifted the bow. She pulled the string back and held her breath.

The deer lifted its head and looked back, and for a moment Ilse could swear that it was her, Ilse, standing there in the field instead of the deer. But only for a moment.

The bow twanged. The arrow flew true and hit its mark. A second later, there was a dull thud.

Ilse slowly rose from the bushes and tentatively walked forwards. She approached the dead deer and crouched down beside it. The arrow had struck it in the heart. There was blood, but not much. Ilse looked at the arrow and scratched the spot on the back of her head again. She grabbed the arrow’s shaft and tried to pull it out, but it snapped in her hand. Damn.

Ilse placed the bow down on the ground and retrieved her blade and the bag. She slowly lowered the blade to the deer’s side. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

* * *

 

Ilse trudged through the woods, a bag of meat in her hand. It hadn’t been fun, but she had something to eat now. She had been walking back for a while now, so the castle couldn’t be very far away. She was starting to recognize her surroundings; it looked like the same path she had made the first time she found the castle. She hoped it wasn’t far, in any case; the bag was heavy in her hand, and she couldn’t bear to look at the blood on her hands.

Ahead, between the trees, Ilse could see the vague outline of the castle in the distance. The sun was approaching its zenith, so it was about to noon. She could have a proper lunch for the first time since she had left the walls. Out on expeditions, they only had two meals a day, in the morning and the evening. The rest of the day was spent on horseback. And it wasn’t like her expedition had lasted very long before everything went to shit.

Thinking about access to daily meals conjured the hunger in Ilse’s stomach once again, so she decided to leave the past behind her and speed up towards the castle. In no time, the forest ended and she was walking through the gate of the castle wall. The horse was asleep in the courtyard. Ilse smiled fondly and crouched down to gentle tousle its mane. The sight of its chest moving along with its breaths managed to distract Ilse from the image of the dead deer that sat festering in her mind.

Ilse stood and walked into the castle. She walked down the length of the dining hall, jumping over the fallen chandelier, and sat down in front of the fire pit, where she had left all of her things. Rummaging through her bag, Ilse pulled out her flint and steel. There was already wood in the fire pit, so she was all ready to start a fire. Ilse struck the flint.

* * *

 

The deer meat was cooking now. Ilse sat down on the bench in front of the long table and pulled out her notebook.

_I have spent the morning hunting out in the woods. Thus far, I have managed to survive on very sparse rations, but I highly doubt I could go on much longer like that. So I ventured out into the woods and tried to find something to hunt. After some effort, I managed to locate and kill a deer. I will try to eat more from now on. It would be embarrassing to die of starvation after all I’ve been through._

Ilse pocketed the notebook and looked over to the fire. The cooking venison was starting to smell rather pleasant by now. Back home, meat had been so hard to come by, especially after the fall of Wall Maria. Ilse remembered once that, on her birthday, her parents had promised a ‘surprise’ for dinner. She had been so excited, and when she came home that day from collecting wood, her father had prepared a fairly large bird (Ilse couldn’t remember if it was a chicken or a turkey or what). She had been so happy that day.

Ilse wiped the tears from her cheeks and stood to go check on the cooking meat.

* * *

 

The venison was delicious. Ilse ate as much as she could without making herself sick (the rest she saved for dinner). After lunch, she went up to the study to look at the big map. Her next expedition would be the town of Shinzara, the second closest after Jeju. But the trip to Jeju hadn’t exactly been short, and Ilse didn’t want to be traveling once night fell. She resolved to make the trip tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments be welcome.


	12. The Horse

Ilse sat atop the castle’s rampart, cloak pulled up around her. The sun was not up yet, and the air was cool. She took a moment to appreciate the quiet peacefulness of it all. A low fog hung over the trees around the castle, and Ilse could hear frogs croaking in the distance. Now was the time to leave.

Ilse climbed down the steep stone stairs set into the side of the wall to the courtyard. The horse was not yet awake, so Ilse went over and gently shook its neck. The horse’s eye shot open and it snorted in annoyance. “Sorry,” Ilse whispered. She pulled an apple out of her pack and placed it in the horse’s mouth. The horse slowly pushed itself up onto its feet. “We gotta go now… Agro. How’s that sound?” Ilse didn’t quite know where the name came from; it just sounded right. The horse whinnied approvingly as it downed the apple; evidently, it agreed. Ilse hoisted herself up onto the saddle, and the two set out again.

* * *

 

They had been riding for an hour, and there was no sign of Shinzara. Ilse checked the map in her journal again; they were certainly heading in the right direction, and Shinzara didn’t seem to be _that_ much farther away from the castle than Jeju. So where was it?

Ilse looked to the right. Between the trees, she could see the distant outline of houses.

She had walked right past it.

Ilse mentally reprimanded herself as she pulled the reins to the right. Agro turned and started walking in the direction of the village. In another half-minute, they emerged from the dark woods and passed the town border. Ilse dismounted Agro and looked around. This village seemed much less worn than Jeju; the houses were still intact, and they were in a decent condition. Ilse made for the closest house to her and went in.

* * *

 

Agro watched as Ilse disappeared into the first cottage in the town. The horse ruffled her mane and looked around. It was a nice day; the sun was out, but it was not too bright. It was warm, but not hot, and the air wasn’t too humid. Agro huffed quietly and bent down to nibble at the grass. It tasted alright; not as good as the grass around the castle.

Agro was quite fond of Ilse Langnar. The girl was very nice, for one. She gave Agro apples as frequently as she could, considering the very limited supply of apples, and she said comforting things when they were riding. Ilse was a rather interesting individual; she was always writing in her notebook, it seemed. Agro didn’t think much about what she was writing, but it was always interesting to see Ilse intently scribbling things down.

Agro was fond of the girl. So Agro would keep her safe, by any means necessary.

* * *

 

Agro made sure not to wander too far from the village. After a little while, Ilse had come out of the first house and gone into the second. Agro watched her appear and disappear like that for a while, before going off a little ways into the woods (not too far, she didn’t want to leave Ilse all alone). The woods were awfully pleasant; so calm and quiet. The open plains Agro associated with screaming and death. The forests she hadn’t seen until she met Ilse.

There was a quiet scampering off to the side. Agro turned her head to see a squirrel perched upon a tree branch. The squirrel cocked its head; Agro did the same. It was a funny little animal, the squirrel. It moved so quickly, its little head twitching slightly and its paws working. It was very much unlike a horse, but not too unlike. And it wasn’t a titan, so Agro had no qualms with it.

The squirrel scampered back up the tree and disappeared. Agro whinnied quietly and moved off. She wandered under the canopy for a while longer, enjoying the sound of the wind in the leaves. After a few minutes, or perhaps an hour, Agro heard a distant voice calling her name. The horse galloped out of the woods and into Shinzara, where Ilse was waiting. The girl smiled at the sight of the horse, and as Agro skidded to a stop she caressed the top of the horse’s head.

“Well, I didn’t find anything interesting today. Better luck tomorrow, maybe.”

Ilse pulled herself up onto the saddle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	13. A Tale of Two Villages

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse goes to the villages of Chugako and Namado.

“God dammit!” Ilse yelled, kicking the table. She had been exploring the town of Chugako almost all day, with the exception of the trip to the village from the castle- it was almost three hours. And that trip had in itself been several hours ago, and this little excursion had turned up nothing of interest. Ilse had half a mind to flip the table in front of her, but that would be a waste of energy. And honestly, the table looked pretty heavy.

Ilse sank to the ground. This wasn’t good. If she didn’t find something in one of these stupid towns- a clue, a map, _something_ \- she would be stuck here. She’d have no idea where she was, where home was. She could pick a random direction and start riding, but there was a good chance she’d be riding _away_ from where she needed to go.

Ilse stepped out the door of the house, where Agro was waiting for her. The horse whinnied in greeting as Ilse patted her head and headed down the road to the next house. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

 

Ilse rounded the corner into the town square and froze in her tracks. There was a titan hunched over there in the middle of the square- about 4 meters, more or less. It was facing away from her, something clutched in its hands. It looked to be feeding.

Ilse tried to calm her breathing. The titan hadn’t yet noticed her, and if she kept it that way she might be able to dispatch it with ease. Ilse slowly drew her two blades and began to creep forward across the square. The titan’s breathing was loud and ominous- it was the only sound that Ilse could hear, besides the violent crunching of whatever the titan was eating. Ilse considered firing off an anchor into the titan’s neck, but that would betray her element of surprise.

Somewhere behind her a crow cawed. The titan lifted its head to look, noticing Ilse and fixing its gaze upon her. The titan’s jaw was stained with a disgusting amount of blood. Ilse could now see that there was a dead Survey Corps soldier trapped in its grip- it didn’t look like they had died recently. Maybe from an expedition that had failed before Ilse appeared. The titan dropped the corpse onto the ground and rose out of its hunched stance. Even at only 4 meters, the titan’s full height was intimidating.

Ilse swore to herself and ran.

She sprinted the other way across the square to the nearest house. The titan ambled slowly after her- even with its slow pace, its longer stride allowed it to gain on her. Ilse reached the cottage and threw open the door, slamming it shut behind her. The cottage was two floors, at least; there was a little foyer, with a balcony overlooking it from above. Ilse fired an anchor and flew up to the second level as the titan pounded on the door behind her.

Ilse hurriedly retrieved her notebook from her pocket as the cottage shook from the titan’s attacks.

_Chugako has proved to be a dangerous place. I encountered a 4-meter titan in the town center, which has pursued me into a nearby house. As I speak, the creature is attempting to make its way into the cottage to pursue me. I have a plan to take care of it; only time will tell if it will be successful._

After a moment, the titan’s fist crashed through the front of the cottage. It peered through the gate it had just created, before smashing down the rest of the wall. The titan crept into the foyer, hunched over and barely able to fit into the space. It looked around, searching for its prey. It didn’t look upwards enough to see Ilse crouched down on the balcony above as she pocketed her notebook and lifted her blades. Swiftly, Ilse leapt down from her perch, blades raised, and landed on the titan’s back. It grunted in surprise as Ilse swept her blades down and across, sending a blast of blood leftwards onto the wall of the cottage. The titan slumped face-first into the floor, allowing Ilse to slide down its back and run out into the sunlight. Once again, Ilse retrieved her notebook:

_My plan worked! I lured the titan into the foyer of the cottage, where I could access its nape from the second floor._

Ilse yelled Agro’s name, and the horse appeared from the other side of town shortly thereafter.

* * *

 

They didn’t return to the castle until it was dark. Ilse was worried; she was running out of places to look. There was only one more town to raid. If Namado didn’t turn up anything, what then?

That night, sitting in front of the fire pit in the castle, Ilse wrote in her notebook:

_Still nothing. I worry I may be stranded in this castle longer than I hoped. Worst case, I’ll be here for the rest of my life, however long that may be._

_If it comes down to it, I may start planning regular expeditions away from the castle. I’ll ride in a designated direction for half a day, to see what I can find, then ride back the rest of the day. It may be the only way to find what I’m looking for. And if that doesn’t succeed…_

_I hope my expedition to Namado turns something up._

Ilse thought quietly for a moment.

_I’ve killed a total of five titans. I wonder if that’s at all impressive. I’ve heard all sorts of rumors about the members of Levi squad and their kills, but I can’t say I know anything for sure. I suppose it doesn’t matter; what matters is that I’ve survived this far._

_And I will continue to survive. I will not give up._

* * *

 

The ride to Namado took half the day in itself. Since she had arrived, Ilse had been scouring the town, and it was starting to get dark. She wasn’t even finished with her search- she would probably have to stay the night in this town.

Ilse pushed through the door of yet another cottage. It was much larger than some of the others she had found; evidently, the owner had been fairly wealthy. She looked around, finding herself to be in a pleasant sitting room. She opened a number of drawers, looking for maps or notes or something to that effect. There was nothing.

She moved on to the next room. There was a kitchen and dining room, plus a fancy fireplace set into the far wall.

And above the fireplace, on the mantle, there was a flintlock pistol.

Ilse immediately thought back to when she first found her bow. She quickly crossed the room and grabbed the firearm. It was very nice; not quite Military Police quality, but close. It was fairly heavy. Ilse wasn’t sure how helpful a gun would be, but she was going to keep it. Also on the mantle were a holster, a box of ammunition, a container of black powder, and a ramrod. Ilse retrieved these items as well.

Outside, night had fallen. Ilse decided to turn in for the night- she sought out the cabin’s bedroom and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	14. The Siege

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The castle comes under attack.

A single shot rang out in the air. A flock of birds leapt into the air and flew away. Ilse lowered her flintlock, as wisps of smoke emerged from the barrel. She crossed the grassy field and bent to pick up her prey- a pheasant. She couldn’t go hungry tonight. With a yell, Ilse summoned Agro. The horse galloped out of the woods and skidded to a stop in front of her. Ilse smiled and ruffled Agro’s mane, before mounting the saddle.

Ilse had searched the village of Namado over two weeks ago. It had provided no directions, no maps, no information pertaining to her location. It had been disappointing, to say the least. It wasn’t until she returned to the castle later that night that the implication of this had hit her- and she had cried herself to sleep.

Since then, Ilse had been going on daily expeditions in various directions away from the castle, as she had planned. She was on the way back from one of those expeditions now. So far, nothing had come of it, but she was thankful to have something to do. Soon, she might begin going on longer expeditions; heading out for two days instead of one. For now, in any case, she would return to the castle.

Thunder rumbled in the sky above Ilse as Agro galloped home. There was a storm coming.

* * *

 

Ilse sat in the castle study, writing. A mere candle lit the room at this time of night. Outside, rain hammered upon the stone walls. A flash of lightning outside the study’s grand window lit up the study, casting everything in an eerie light. A moment later, there was thunder. Ilse paused, then continued writing.

As the night went on, Ilse began to feel unnerved, although she couldn’t figure out why. She pocketed her notebook and sat in silence for a moment, listening. She could hear a distant, rhythmic thudding. Ilse realized what that meant, and panic gripped her heart.

There was another flash of lightning. Ilse gasped and looked up to the window- outside, the giant face of a titan filled her view, grinning madly. The sight disappeared in an instant, followed by another crack of thunder. Then, with a crash, the titan’s arm smashed through the window, sending Ilse flying across the room. Shattered glass rained down on her as she stood, dodging away from the titan’s arm which had begun feeling around the room for her.

Ilse sprinted out of the study. Hastily, she managed to scribble a few panicked words in her notebook as she headed upstairs to retrieve her gear.

_The castle is under siege. The titans are attacking. I have seen one so far, and the sounds of heavy footsteps tell me there are many more. This may be the end._

Ilse retrieved all her things from the upstairs bedroom and loaded her flintlock before heading down to the main hall. She burst through the heavy double doors and entered the courtyard, where Agro was in a panic. Within a moment, she was drenched from the pouring rain. She sped across the yard and flew up the stone stairs to the top of the wall. From the battlement, Ilse looked out.

A number of titans, mostly in the 7-8 meter range, slowly approached the front of the castle from the forest. Behind, the 15m titan that had initiated the attack was still stuck in the study window on the other side of the building.

Ilse then looked down the length of the wall. The ramparts were lined with a number of cannons, all of which seemed to still in working order. There was a crate of cannonballs stationed by the stairs, as well as one down on the other end of the wall. Ilse opened the first crate and lifted out a cannonball. She carried it over to the first cannon and loaded it.

The titans advanced. One of them, a 7m class, was drawing closer to the wall than the others. Ilse aimed the cannon, grabbed the string, and, with one hand clamped over her ear, pulled the string and hoped for the best.

There was a deafening blast, and the titan’s face exploded in blood. The monster collapsed into the woods. Ilse quickly ran back to the crate and retrieved another cannonball. She dashed to a cannon in the center of the wall, where another titan was approaching. She loaded the cannon, aimed it, and fired. The blast struck the titan in the chest, causing it to stumble backwards. The titan then continued its march forwards. Ilse ran to get another cannonball, returning to reload the cannon. This round hit the titan this time in the head, taking it down. It fell backwards into the woods, nearly knocking down another titan.

The first titan that Ilse had fired at rose from the ground, steam spilling from its face into the sky. Ilse returned to the first cannon, loading it and firing again. The titan was hit in the shoulder, causing it to lurch backwards, but not to stop. Another round of fire took it down.

Ilse ran up the length of the wall, loading each cannon. This took a considerable amount of time, and the titans drew ever closer to the wall. With each cannon loaded, Ilse sprinted back down the wall, pulling each string as she went. The cannons all went off in succession, lighting up the castle walls with the light of the explosions. Limbs went flying; blood splashed down onto the trees.

For a time, Ilse repelled the titans with volley after volley of cannonfire. However, she could only reload the cannons so fast, and the titans slowly made progress towards the wall.

The first titan that Ilse had fired at finally came within reach of the castle. It raised its long arm and swung it downwards, smashing one of the cannons. Ilse sprinted up the wall and launched into the air, hooking onto the side of the titan’s head. As the titan turned towards her, her momentum brought her back around behind it. She fired an anchor into the titan’s nape and flew forward, slicing the neck open. The titan slumped over onto the wall, dead. Ilse managed one more barrage of cannonfire, as the rest of the titans just about reached the wall.

Another titan approached; it reached for Ilse, who tried to lunge out of the way. She was too slow, and she screamed as the titan’s fingers clamped around her leg. The titan slowly lifted her into the air, opening its mouth. In a moment of panic, Ilse drew her flintlock and aimed for the titan’s face. The gun went off, sending a ball of lead straight into the beast’s eye. Ilse was released, and she tumbled down onto the battlements. As the one titan clutched its injured face, the others drew ever closer.

One titan swept its arm across, taking out the cannons atop the wall as Ilse leapt down onto the courtyard. She sprinted for Agro as the titans breached the wall; one of them crawled up over the wall, while another just smashed through the stone. Ilse mounted her horse and hastily rode across the courtyard to the far side of the wall. A section of the wall had been kicked in by the 15m titan; its limbs had been flailing around while its head and shoulders were trapped inside the study. Agro leapt over the rubble and galloped into the woods as the titans overran the courtyard.

The castle was lost.

At that moment, the 15m titan finally freed itself from the castle study. It looked back around as Ilse and Agro rode past its feet. The titan stood up and began to give chase.

* * *

 

Ilse could hear the rapid stomping of the titan behind her. She checked her notebook again; she was heading for the town of Jeju. At Agro’s full speed, the trip would be much shorter than it had been the first time Ilse had visited.

Ilse cast a quick glance over her shoulder. The titan was still pursuing her, although it was slightly impeded by the forest. If she had been out in the open, Ilse doubted she would have been able to evade the creature for this long. As Agro dodged between the trees, Ilse quickly pulled out her notebook.

_The castle is lost. I am being pursued by one of the titans, a 15m class. I am trying to reach the village of Jeju. Maybe I can lose the titan, or take refuge inside. I fear that I won’t make it. If I don’t-_

The treeline ended and Agro galloped out into the village. She carried Ilse down the road through the town as the titan emerged from the trees as well. Instantly, the titan began gaining again, speeding up until it was right on Agro’s tail. Ilse pocketed the notebook and pulled the reins to the right, trying to lose the titan in the maze of buildings. She cast another glance behind her as Agro turned down the side road, before looking forward and gasping in terror.

Another titan lunged forth from ahead and blocked the path. Agro reared back in fear, sending Ilse flying off of her back and straight towards the mouth of the pursuing titan behind them.

Time seemed to slow as Ilse drifted through the air. She was reminded of her first days alone, when the talking titan had captured her head in between its jaws. She had been sure she was going to die then; and she was sure she was going to die here.

The titan clamped its jaws shut just before it was too late. The teeth swung down upon Ilse’s left arm.

She heard the crunch of her arm before she felt it.

In an instant, her left arm had been severed just above the elbow. She fell to the ground, landing roughly on her side. Ilse had just enough awareness to scramble away from the titan towards one of the cottages. The titan reached for her with its mouth, her arm already swallowed, but then the other titan slammed its hand down to reach Ilse, striking the first titan instead. This provided Ilse just enough time to slip inside the cottage and close the door without being noticed.

* * *

 

Ilse whimpered in pain as she hastily removed her belt and moved it to what remained of her left arm, struggling to tie it around the bleeding stump with only her right arm. She tightened the belt, causing her to yelp as the pain in her arm flared up. As tears threatened to escape her eyes, she reminded herself that she needed to do this or she could die. Ilse then removed her cloak, wrapping it around the ragged flesh to cover the wound. She held the severed arm up above her head to prevent the flow of blood.

No longer distracted with something to do, the searing pain in her arm overwhelmed everything. A strangled scream escaped Ilse’s throat as she lay there, clenching her teeth. She pressed her eyes shut, squeezing out tears that ran down her cheeks.

* * *

 

Ilse wavered in and out of consciousness for the next hour. The sounds of loud footsteps drifted in and out of her head for a while, before disappearing altogether. When Ilse finally returned to a waking state of mind, the excruciating pain had settled into a very intense soreness. Her eyes were red from crying. There was blood everywhere. Ilse weakly reached up with her remaining arm and retrieved her notebook. She perched it upon her knee in order to write. Her hand was shaking as she lifted the pen.

_My arm is gone._

_I don’t know how long I can keep doing this. Everything hurts. Should I feel lucky to be alive? I don’t know. I don’t know much of anything anymore._

Ilse slumped back over. She was so tired.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> she got erwin'd
> 
> Comments are welcome.


	15. Ilse Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse struggles in the wild after losing her arm.

Agro was worried.

She had been carrying Ilse on her back for a week, since she had lost her arm. Ilse didn’t speak, or do much of anything during the day. She just sat on Agro’s back and let the horse take her wherever. In fact, she spent most of the day asleep. When they camped at night, Ilse wouldn’t say anything. Some days she would disappear for a little while, before returning with something to eat. And Ilse didn’t even seem to have much of an appetite.

Agro missed the girl’s voice.

It was nighttime now. Ilse was asleep, curled up in the dirt. Agro watched over her, listening to the sound of crickets. The horse took comfort in watching Ilse’s chest rise and fall slightly with her breathing. If not for that, she would be convinced the girl was dead- especially considering the missing arm.

Ilse started to tremble in her sleep, her breathing becoming shallow. She groaned and turned over, clearly distressed by whatever dream she was having. Agro could do nothing but watch over her.

* * *

 

Ilse wavered in and out of sleep. She could hardly remember the past week- she had only vague impressions of being carried around by Agro. Even now, she hovered somewhere between consciousness and sleep.

Then, Agro stopped suddenly. The stop jolted Ilse lightly, enough to wake her up. Agro had come to a stop by a little brook that went under a small stone bridge. The horse huffed and gestured to the water. Ilse rubbed her eyes with her remaining arm and followed the horse’s gaze over to the brook and sighed. She knew what Agro was trying to say- she hadn’t had anything to drink in days.

“Okay, you’re right,” she muttered hoarsely. Ilse slowly lowered herself from Agro’s back, grabbed her bag, and retrieved her near-empty waterskin. She stumbled towards the running water and lowered the leather flask into it, pulling it back up and taking a drink. The water soothed her rough throat, and for the first time in a week she started to feel a little human again. Ilse felt suddenly compelled to write- she clumsily retrieved her notebook from its pocket and placed it on the ground, trying to write with only one hand.

_I am very tired, and very lost. Agro has carried me in the past week, as I have been too weak to support myself. I am very grateful for it; she is a very loyal horse._

_I know not where we are, or what we should do. We are lost, abroad in the wild. I am trying not to think too much about it; if I dwell on the direness of the situation, I may give in to fear._

_I will not give up._

_I will not give up._

_I will not give up!_

Ilse closed the notebook. She was starting to feel drowsy again, and she let herself fall onto her side as she closed her eyes. Agro was by her side in an instant, although the horse’s worry faded as she saw that Ilse had merely fallen asleep. She looked calmer now.

* * *

 

Another week passed. With every day that went by, Ilse’s health increased slightly. Her face began to look less pale, and she was staying awake most of the time. The pain in her left arm was slowly ebbing away- it was still sore, but that was better than the excruciating nightmare it had been two weeks ago.

Ilse pulled Agro’s reins as the horse trotted through the woods. Earlier that day, she had spotted a titan in the distance- it wasn’t remotely close enough to pose any real threat, but it got her thinking. Titans were still a very real threat- she hadn’t given them much thought since the siege, but now the thought of a titan encounter occupied her mind. If a titan were to appear now, what would she do?

Ilse jumped down from Agro’s back and drew one of her blades. She walked up to one of the larger trees nearby- it was about the right size to be a titan’s neck. Ilse considered her dilemma for a moment- how was she to kill titans with only one arm?

Ilse tried holding her blade normally, seeing if she could make one cut then immediately bring the blade back for a second. It process took too long- a titan’s neck would start regenerating by then, and there was no guarantee she would have the chance to make the second cut while flying through the air.

Ilse tried a few other techniques after that, using the tree as a target. None of them worked- they wouldn’t cut properly, or they wouldn’t cut fast enough. Killing a titan with one arm was starting to seem impossible.

Ilse tried one last tactic- she held two blades in one hand, specifically so that the blades would be pointed slightly apart. It was not particularly comfortable, but it might work. Ilse swung her arm across, driving the blades through the tree. Finally, she landed a cut that could equate to a killing blow on a titan. It was imperfect, but it was her best shot. Ilse practiced her new move a few more times before sheathing her blades and climbing onto Agro once again.

* * *

 

It was midday, and Ilse was taking a break. Agro was resting in the shade nearby, and Ilse was taking a drink of water. The air was warm, but comfortable, and the sky was blue above them. Ilse took a quick look around again; she and Agro had stopped in a small clearing, where Ilse was now sitting. Agro had wandered off a little bit, and was now sitting under a tree at the edge of the clearing.

Something colorful caught her eye. Ilse stood slowly and wandered over to find a patch of wildflowers.

Ilse thought back to her early days being stranded; specifically, they day after she encountered the speaking titan. She had spent that morning picking flowers and putting them in her hair. The memory made her smile.

Ilse reached down to pluck a few of these flowers, and put them in her hair. She sat back down, enjoying the moment.

A few minutes later, Ilse noticed something. The plants around her had started trembling slightly. Ilse took a moment to listen closely, and she heard a distant rhythmic thudding, like footsteps. She immediately placed a hand on her blades, but then she realized that the sound wasn’t that of titans walking. It was a much quicker, uneven sound, as opposed to the steady footfalls of a giant.

It sounded like hooves.

Ilse quickly stood up and looked around. She figured out which way the sound was coming from, and started sprinting that way. Agro looked up in surprise before giving chase. Ilse left the clearing behind and sped through the woods, desperately trying to find the source of the sound. Hope began to swell up in her heart, and she hoped it wasn’t misplaced. As she ran, the sound got louder, and it became clear that it was indeed the sound of horses- seemingly many of them. She retrieved her flintlock pistol and started loading it (a process that was much more difficult without a left hand).

Ilse suddenly emerged from the forest and found herself standing at the edge of a large field, Agro not far behind. Ahead of them, a battalion of Survey Corps soldiers was riding westward on horseback. The horses kicked up a fair amount of dust in the air as they moved. Ilse sprinted into the open, raising her pistol and firing it into the air to attract their attention. Taking notice, the horses slowed to a stop as they approached her, with the frontmost soldier, clearly the captain, stopping but a meter away.

“Soldier, identify yourself!” he commanded.

Ilse quickly clamped her one remaining fist over her heart in a salute. “Ilse Langnar, Second Battalion, 34th Expedition Beyond the Walls, Sir!” she yelled, making her throat feel awful. The captain thought for a moment. “The 34th Expedition… if I’m not mistaken, that battalion was lost nearly two months ago.”

“Yes, Sir! We were ambushed by a group of titans on the way back. I alone survived, to the best of my knowledge.”

“You’ve survived on your own since then?”

“Affirmative, sir.”

The captain deliberated a moment longer, his eyes falling upon Ilse’s missing arm.

“Team Leader Eichmann, Third Battalion, 35th Expedition. We have orders to retreat back to the Walls at once. We can get you back to safety. I see you already have a horse.”

Ilse let out a breath of relief, allowing her composure to falter slightly before her superior. She saluted once again. “Affirmative, sir. Thank you.”

Ilse ran to climb up onto Agro’s back and fell into formation. From the front of the squadron, Team Leader Eichmann raised his sword into the air. “Soldiers, move out!” he yelled. At that, the battalion surged forth, horses galloping towards the horizon. Towards hope.

Hope for Ilse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shinzo sasageyo
> 
>  
> 
> Comments are welcome.


	16. Homeward Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Third Battalion sets up camp overnight.

The Third Battalion set up camp by the edge of the woods as night fell. The soldiers set up cots and fires, placing several guards on lookout while the others got their rest. The one tent that was pitched contained Team Leader Eichmann and his must trusted subordinate. They were busy planning the squad’s movements come sunrise. Ilse wandered past the bustling groups of people, overhearing conversations like “I heard we’re going to have a rendezvous with Levi Squad tomorrow,” and “Have you actually seen a titan? I haven’t.”

Ilse had orders to meet with the squad’s leadership in their tent ASAP, so she was heading that way now. The tent was pitched in the middle of the camp, which was in theory the most strategic location. Ilse skirted around the campfires and soldiers and pushed through the fabric entrance, to find Eichmann and his best soldier, Anna Schulz, gathered around a map on a table. Eichmann looked up as Ilse saluted, waving his arm to dismiss formalities. Ilse hesitated for a moment, faltering as she entered the tent. Schulz, recognizing she was intimidated, gave her a reassuring smile.

Eichmann quickly broke the silence. “Langnar. Glad you could join us. Come, take a look.”

Ilse stepped up to the table to look at the map. The squad’s current position was marked- they were a little to the east of the Walls. Ilse smiled to herself at the circular lines drawn on the parchment that represented them.

“We’re about a day out from home. At dawn, we make the final push for the Walls, and rendezvous with the other teams. Now, Langnar, if you’ve been out here as long as you say, you’re our best chance at estimating the concentration of titans in this area. Have you encountered any titans in this area?”

Ilse thought for a moment. “Um, I spotted one a few days ago, but it was in the distance and that was farther east. Besides that, there’s been nothing since this-“she lifted her severed arm- “happened a few weeks ago.”

Eichmann nodded. He considered this information for a moment, looking at the map. “Understood. You two are dismissed.” Ilse nodded and left the tent, followed by Schulz, who tapped her shoulder.

“You really survived out there? For months?”

Ilse nodded.

“How’d you do it? Any one of us would have given up.”

“I… I didn’t want to die. But I didn’t want to live just for myself. I wanted to see my parents again, to give something back to them. And I learned things that _must_ get back to the Survey Corps. For the sake of humanity.”

Schulz raised an eyebrow, but left it at that. Instead, she reached into her pack and pulled out a loaf of bread. She split it in half and handed the larger half to Ilse. “We get full rations. I can’t imagine you’ve had much to eat out there.”

Ilse stuttered, then took the bread. “Thank you,” she muttered. Schulz smiled kindly, before turning away and disappearing into the darkness. Ilse watched after her, then took a bite from the bread before going off to find a cot. As she walked, she retrieved her notebook:

_After all this time, I have finally found people to get me home. I might be saved from this hellish nightmare I’ve been living for two months. Above all else, I want to see my parents. And for the first time in a while, that idea seems like it could be reality. I have hope._

Ilse pocketed her notebook, wiping away the joyful tears that started to well up in her eyes.

* * *

 

There it was. The Wall. Home.

After half a day of traveling, she could finally, _finally_ see it. After months of near-death, horror, and pain, she was finally within reach of her goal. The notebook in her pocket seemed to gain weight, with the knowledge contained in it. She cast a look over to Schulz on her horse, who gave her a small smile in return.

Then the group turned in a different direction.

Ilse approached Eichmann and asked, “Where are we going, sir? The Walls are in sight.”

“Our orders are to rendezvous with the other squads in a town near here. It’s just a short detour. I should have mentioned that earlier; my apologies.”

Schulz rode up next to Eichmann and said something in his ear. Eichmann thought over what she said for a moment, before turning back to Ilse.

“Langnar, if you are willing, I’d be fine sending you ahead to the Walls now as a scout. I don’t suppose you want to be out here any longer than you have to.”

Ilse let out a sigh of relief. “No, sir. Thank you.” With that, Ilse pulled the reins to the side and starting riding at full speed towards the Walls.

* * *

 

The Walls were slightly closer now. Ilse had been riding for perhaps ten minutes, and it would take likely the rest of the day to reach home. Still, it was closer than she had been in months.

A loud thud shook the ground. Ilse pulled the reins, stopping Agro in her tracks. Panicked, Ilse glanced around at her surroundings. If a titan were to appear now…

In the distance, Ilse could see a tall shape moving across the landscape. Its arms were held at awkward angles, and it was stumbling quickly and randomly, without any discernable intelligence. It looked absolutely absurd compared to the titans Ilse had seen.

An abnormal.

As she looked, Ilse saw another titan appear, then another. There was a whole group of them, chaotically scrambling in the vague direction of the village where the Third Battalion had been heading. The titans would wipe them out if they didn’t know what was coming.

Ilse cast a longing glance at the Walls. Home was so close, so _goddamn close_ , but could she leave her fellow soldiers to die?

Her decision was made. Ilse pulled the reins back and started riding back to warn the others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	17. Here at the End of All Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse races to warn the Third Battalion of the incoming titans.

Agro galloped across the countryside as quickly as she could. If Ilse was fast enough, she’d be able to get ahead of the abnormal titans. She had to hope she would.

Ilse reached the road where the others had turned and pulled the reins to the left. Agro wheeled around and started heading down the road. Ilse followed the occasional overgrown signpost for a few minutes before rounding a corner into a large clearing where the village was situated. The squad was waiting in the town’s center. Ilse made a beeline for Eichmann, still on horseback, and waved him down.

“Langnar. What are you doing here?”

“There’s- there’s a group of abnormals heading this way,” she wheezed, panting. “They’re approaching from the northwest.”

Even Eichmann’s stoic exterior faltered at this news, panic flashing briefly over his face. “Understood,” he muttered, before turning to the others. “Targets approaching from the northwest! Everyone out of the open! Get some altitude!” he commanded. Even as he said this, the ground started to rumble with the incoming footsteps. Eichmann dismounted his horse and took off with a burst of gas, landing on a nearby roof. The others followed suit. Ilse whispered for Agro to stay safe before doing the same herself.

The first titan was upon them almost immediately. Immediately Eichmann went into action, hooking onto the titan’s neck and dispatching it quickly. The dead titan landed on one of the buildings, nearly crushing one of the soldiers. He jumped out of the way, but in the confusion another titan had appeared. It reached for the nearest person it saw, who happened to be Schulz. She cut its fingers off and jumped to safety, as the titans flooded the town. Elsewhere, there was a scream, and the first victim was claimed. Ilse couldn’t bring herself to look at the blood as she took of herself, scouting the situation. One of the titans was slowly lifting a soldier to its mouth; Ilse flew up behind it, two blades in her hand, and prepared to test her new technique.

The cut was a bit too high, and not quite deep enough. She wasn’t holding the blades quite right. However, the attack was enough to get the titan to drop its victim. Ilse readjusted her blades and tried again. The same titan was still facing away from her, so she maneuvered herself behind its neck and struck.

Blood spouted into the air as the blades cut right into the flesh, killing the titan. Ilse tripped up as she landed, falling flat on her face on the wooden roof. Still, her technique had worked. She had killed a titan with one arm. That had to be a first.

The town was falling quickly into chaos. Every second, it seemed, another soldier was killed off by a titan. They were dropping like flies. Eichmann shouted out a command to retreat, turning around to find himself face-to-face with a titan.

The titan lunged at Eichmann with its mouth, narrowly missing him. Instead, the monster crashed through the roof of the house, bringing the structure down with it. Eichmann fell into the debris, landing on a beam of wood. The titan slowly rose, another beam shoved through its shoulder like a spear. It grabbed Eichmann and lifted him, kicking and screaming, into its mouth.

Schulz heard Eichmann’s final scream and her heart dropped. She quickly whirled around to dispatch another titan, but she was distracted. She didn’t notice when the titan turned around to face her. Once she realized her mistake, it was too late.

Ilse landed another killing blow, but as the titan died its arm flailed out to swat her out of the air. Ilse sailed through the sky without grace, colliding head-first with a wall and slumping to the ground. When she pulled herself back up, Ilse saw stars. Everything was blurry, but she could make out the shape of a large humanoid figure taking notice of her and approaching. Ilse scrambled to her feet and threw out her arms, feeling her way along the wall before she found a door and fell into the building.

* * *

 

Ilse fell onto her back on the floor of the cottage. Her vision was still foggy, and she was exhausted; her head hurt sorely, and she felt like he might collapse at any second. She sat up, hearing only the sounds of battle outside. Then, another sound reached her ears- someone breathing.

Ilse whirled around to see a figure lying on the floor. Their leg was missing, and there was blood everywhere. They didn’t have much longer. Ilse crawled forward to find that it was Anna Schulz, her breathing labored. Schulz coughed and wheezed, but her face lightened when she saw who it was that had found her. Ilse cast a glance at her severed leg and winced- nothing was going to fix that. Schulz shook her head.

“Too late… for me.”

“Don’t say that.”

Schulz grabbed Ilse’s remaining arm and pressed something into her hand, closing Ilse’s fingers around it. It was a flare gun.

“Levi Squad is nearby. If they see the flare, they’ll come. Save yourself.”

Ilse choked back tears. “I… thank you. For saving me.”

Anna smiled again, and then she was gone.

* * *

 

Ilse stepped out into the middle of the town, flare gun in hand. The remains of the Third Battalion were still fighting back the titans valiantly.

Last time she had been in this position, watching her comrades die, she had run away.

Not this time.

Ilse raised her arm, pressing it against her ear, and she pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang, and a cloud of red gas fired into the sky. She could only hope it was enough. Ilse dropped the flare gun. Here, at the end of all things, she could only think to write.

_This may be the end. It feels as if the world has ended. I wish I could have seen my parents again. I wish I could have saved the others. But it is too late for that. If ever this notebook is found, please know that I tried. This is Ilse Langnar, saying goodbye._

Ilse looked up to find a large titan approaching her, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. She was on the verge of collapse, her consciousness slipping away. As the world faded into darkness, and Ilse fell backwards towards the ground, she thought she could see a group of angelic-looking figures descending from the light behind the titan.

And then Ilse Langnar knew no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome.


	18. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ilse wakes up.

Ilse woke to find herself lying in a bed. The room was dimly light by a nearby candle or lamp. Her severed arm was now properly wrapped with bandages. Ilse’s head fell over to the side to see a lady with glasses sitting in a chair next to her bed, reading her notebook. When the lady heard Ilse move, she closed the notebook and looked over.

“Ah, you’re awake. Good. Ilse Langnar, correct?” The lady held out a hand for Ilse to shake. “Hanji Zoe,” she introduced. Ilse froze- she recognized that name. “It’s nice to meet you, Squad Leader,” Ilse responded.

Hanji opened Ilse’s notebook again. “A very interesting read. I may have some… questions about it later on. But not now. How do you feel?”

“Um… awful. What happened?”

“Levi Squad saw the flare from the Third Battalion. They came to assist, finished off the titans, and escorted the survivors back home. You were one of them, though you were unconscious the whole time."

“My horse?”

“I’m assuming you mean the horse that literally dragged you out of harm’s way. She’s in our stables, don’t worry.”

Ilse let out a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes.

“Some of the survivors from the Third Battalion mentioned that you killed titans with only one arm. That’s very impressive. Not to mention you survived out there alone for two months. I think Levi’s jealous. Oluo certainly is...”

“I graduated top of my class. And I had to get that notebook back. You’ve read it, you know why.”

Hanji nodded, setting the notebook down again.

“What now?” asked Ilse.

“Well, considering your talent for killing titans, Captain Levi wants you to join his squad. But after all you’ve been through, nobody is going to force you to go back outside the walls. I have a different proposition for you- I’ve been planning to put together a special titan research squad for some time. Your writing proves to me that you’d belong on that squad. It’s already been approved by Commander Erwin. There’s no pressure to make a decision right now, so think about it.”

Hanji stood up and headed towards the door. “I believe your parents are due to visit in an hour. After that, I’ll be back to discuss your experience with the talking titan. I have many questions.” At the mention of that, Hanji gave her a smile that looked more deranged than anything.

The squad leader adjusted her glasses and disappeared through the door, leaving Ilse alone.

Alone, but safe at last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the end.
> 
> Comments are welcome.


End file.
